God's Mail {Review}

I was given the opportunity through the Homeschool Review Crew to review a book that is meant to encourage and is full of scripture and poems of comfort. If you follow my blog or social media you will know my family is going through a pretty hard time right now, so God's Mail Volume 3 came at a good time.

What I received was a physical softcover copy of God's Mail Volume 3 from God's Mail

Rod Hardin is the author of God's Mail: Volume 3 ~ he has been writing poems since 1983. His writings give encouragement, comfort, instruction, and correction (for example~ angels are not babies or loved ones who have passed on)

Ron is a believer who uses his gift of writing to help others walk through the difficult time which he himself has experienced.

Before coming to Christ Ron was a high school drop out, gang member, and abused alcohol and drugs. He was also in and out of jail!

At age 28 he started his own ministry and at about that time is when he started writing poems for the Lord. 

I love how the book is set up with Scripture on the left and the poem on the right.

Scripture is taken from different translations:
KJV = King James Version
NKJV = New King James Version
MSG = The Message Bible
TLB = Living Bible
GW = God's Word Translation
AMP = Amplified Bible
GNT = The Good News Bible

You could use God's Mail several ways: read for fifteen minutes a day and go through several of the pages (I mean page spreads, counting the scripture and poem as one). Or you can read a page a day, again meaning both pages in a sitting.

What I did was before bed I'd read God's Mail both the Scriptures and the poem. It was a great way to end the day because after a busy day of homeschooling, tending the home, and working part-time, it was a good thing to read God's Mail.

If you are a doodler, there is enough space on the pages to add cross-references, draw little squiggles, hearts, and flowers, and even write your own prayer or poem along the edges. I think gel pens would be nice for this.

Visit God's Mail website to see God's Mail Volume 1 and Volume 2 as well. 

From the Introduction of the book:

The book covers a lot of ground, dealing with common and sensitive issues from many different angles. At times it is pastoral, prophetic, evangelistic, philosophical, but most of all spiritually nourishing and just plain thought-provoking.

To read more reviews about God's Mail please click on the graphic below!

Elephant Learning Math Academy {Review}

One subject with my kiddos that I really want them to master is math.   I am not a mathy person myself so I'm terrified to teach it. My husband is great at math but has been really busy putting in extra hours ar work.

When Elephant Learning Math Academy came up as one of the Homeschool Review Crew vendors I thought I'd give it a try. We received a 12-month subscription to Elephant Learning Math Academy. This program is geared toward ages 2-16. My kiddo that is using it is 15.

Elephant Learning Math covers counting through Algebra but not like high school Algebra 1 & 2. It is more suited for the older child who struggles with math and needs some help.

The program claims to raise your child's math skills by one year in three months using the program. The child needs to use the program three times a week at least 10 minutes a day (30 minutes per week).

The whole sign up process was easy. Once your child's account is set up they can pick an avatar (and they are so adorable!!!).

The assessment at the beginning of the program is great because the student really can't tell that they are being "tested" and the program just eases into the program. It really does streamline into the lessons.

You can also print worksheets for your child.

Here is a screenshot showing what has been completed and if the student passed or failed.

Elephant Learning (my kiddos and I shortened the name) goes beyond only playing online. I found out that Ethan never memorized his multiplication of 8x7 and 8x9 so Elephant Learning gave us a few ideas with how to practice his multiplication.

Here are some screenshots of the learning games. The one below shows where Lance is at.

The cute little guy pops up at the end (this is just one of many).

Our Thoughts:
While I really see the benefits of Elephant Learning Math my kids were not too crazy about it. They didn't care for the voices but you can turn the sound off and read it if necessary. Maybe because they were on the higher end of the age limit for this program (ages 15 and 16).

With one of my son's he did mention that the colors were too bright for him so I had to dim the computer screen for him a bit.

What I did like was seeing that they did understand math. They got a lot of the answers correct. What I didn't understand though was their elephant age was always younger than their real age ~even though there were getting most of the answers correct.


What I absolutely loved was the parent dashboard because you can see what your child has completed. My kiddos didn't want me to share their dashboard otherwise I'd have put a screenshot.

Final Thoughts! All-in-all I am very thankful that we were allowed to review Elephant Learning Math because there are a few gaps my boys have and now we can address them. It was great to see that my boys do understand math concepts. This is a part of homeschooling that I am nervous about.

Please click on the graphic below to read more Elephant Learning Math Reviews by the Homeschool Review Crew!